Smart shades, blinds, and curtains can open or close on a schedule or at your command. They save energy and make life more convenient—especially for anyone with limited mobility.

Harms’ most recent addition to his smart house uses the voice activated Amazon Echo, aka Alexa, to open and close the blinds in his living room.

Here's an exception: if your window blinds are heavily soiled, you may need an opposite plan of action than the one I outline below, like combinations of dish soap, vinegar and water solutions, or ...

With a little luck it won`t be too long now before nature starts closing out dreary gray days and gets in a new supply of sunny ones. Then we`ll be opening shades to let the sunshine in and even, e… ...

[Brian Harms] made his living room window blinds open and close automatically using servos, an Arduino, and a SmartThings Arduino shield. Best of all, it’s connected to his Amazon Echo so tha… ...